The Rivals - Dylan Allen Page 0,456

the words I need to say how happy I am. So, I say the thing that’s been on the tip of my tongue all day. “My father would have loved you so much.”

She exhales and presses a hand to her chest. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, I think.”

“I’ll say it again if you come upstairs with me right now.” I slide my hand up her thigh.

She swats it away. “We can’t go upstairs before you have dessert, I made pie,” she chides, but leans closer to me.

I lift her hand and press a kiss to the inside of her wrist and linger to savor the feel of her soft vanilla scented skin. “Your body can be my dessert. And I’ll be yours.”

She tugs her hand out of my grasp and narrows her eyes. “I made those pies from scratch ‘cause they’re your favorite. So, you’re going to have a slice at this table with the rest of your family.” She leans into me until her lips brush my ear. “But after, we’ll take some up with us and you can have seconds, on me.”

“Perfect.” I seal our agreement with a quick kiss.

She smiles and pats my hand. “Let’s go take this family picture, then we’ll have dessert.”

She stands and taps her knife against her glass. “I know some of you are still eating, but I was hoping we could take a family picture out on the back porch. If we go now, we can catch the sunset.”

She heads outside and I hang back to help corral the kids and so I can get a minute alone with Remi. Confidence made a seating chart that put us at opposite ends of the table, and I’ve been dying to talk to him all night.

I grab Phoenix and walk over to where he’s stooped to tie the shoe of one of Regan’s twins. There’s nothing to distinguish them from each other physically, but I know it’s Martinez when he says “Pardon,” when bumps into me on his way to catch up to his brother.

“Nice party,” Remi says as he stands, and we head toward the back porch.

“What the hell happened to your face?”

He scowls at me. “Nice to see you, too.”

I laugh and shift a squirming Phoenix onto my other arm. “Do you know the kind of discipline it’s taken for me to wait this long to ask? Fucking tell me.”

He touches the dark bruise along the side of his eye and winces. “If I do, you’ve gotta take it to the grave.”

I put a hand to my heart. “Vault.”

He blows out a resigned breath. “I fainted.”

I stop dead in my track and stare at him. “Like…passed out?”

“Is there another kind of fainting, Hayes?” he snaps.

I bite back my chuckle. “What happened? Are you sick?”

“No. Kal’s pregnant, and when she told me, I fell the fuck out.” He looks disgusted with himself and I can’t hold my laughter anymore.

I clap him on the shoulder when he glowers at me. “If that’s not a good reason for somebody to faint, I don’t know what is. Congratulations, brother.”

He puts a hand on my arm to stop me from stepping out on the porch. His expression is tense. “We’re not telling anyone else. Not yet. It’s early. And another thing, I think we’re moving to Atlanta.”

My humor fizzles and I take a step back from him. “She’s taking the job?”

He nods. “If she gets it.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “Remi. Your mother just announced she’s moving to London. Tyson is applying for a job in Paris. Regan is moving to Mexico. If you move, there won’t be a single Wilde in Houston. You can’t.”

He closes his eyes. “Shit. I hadn’t even thought about that. But…I don’t see what else we can do.”

I nod grimly. “You’ll cross that bridge if you come to it.”

He nods, but he looks a little dazed, “Yeah, I guess.”

Glad to be done with that conversation, I open the door and step outside.

Confidence waves me over to sit next to her and lifts Phoenix into her lap. “I was about to come look for you,” she whispers and takes my hand.

Remi sits next to me, with Kal on his other side. The children older kids - Regan’s twins, Eva and Bianca sit on the floor at our feet.

Gigi stands behind me, Lucas next to her. My mother-in-law stands next to him, with Tina Wilde and her partner on her other side.

Stone, Regan, Beau, Dare, Dina, Tyson, and my